Ooh, Shiny Special!!

I didn't have school today and I don't have it tomorrow either (teacher workdays), so in my eagerness to get out of my boring house, I left for tkd about 15 minutes earlier than normal. No one was there when I arrived, so I just sat in my car for awhile. When it was about 5 minutes till class was supposed to start, I called Mr. Coleman on his cell phone; he said he was running a little late and was just around the corner. When he got there he asked me if I wanted to start teaching (One thing I've noticed in TaeKwonDoMom's blog is that she always writes about children leading the class, and that surprised me because only adults are allowed to teach the whole class at my dojang). I was taken aback because the most that I've done with instructing the entire class is getting them lined up and doing warmups. I said yes, but I think he sensed that I was hesitant, so he said that he would start to gradually let me teach more of the class. I thought about it a lot during class, and I think it would be a good learning experience for me (plus the extra money I'd be making).
I was the only one there for weapons class, so we got to work on whatever I thought I needed help in. We started with tonfa; I was a little rusty (I hadn't been to weapons in a few months) but it started coming back to me after a few minutes. I reviewed my old tonfa forms, then learned a new kata that Mr. Coleman had started teaching us. Its called "Matte ush No Tonfa Ich", and I definitely didn't spell that right! We worked on bo staff next (its my favorite weapon). We went over the Takyooku Shodan and Nidan, then I learned one called "Chunakun Bo One". I had started to learn it a while ago, but had forgotten most of it. Last, we went over "Shihunuke Bo One".
Master Lucas wasn't there for self-defense tonight, and Mr. Coleman focused a lot on proper blocking. We didn't do anything fancy, just different types of blocks that turn into wrist locks. I didn't find it tedious (like I did earlier this week), but found it enjoyable. I was in a group of 3, so whenever I wasn't in, Mr. Coleman asked me to go around and help the younger children. It was... An experience.... And that's all I'll say about that! :P
I stayed for sparring, and after we all had our gear on, Mr. Coleman told me to get them lined up, bow them in, have them pair up, and then start them with a patachagi counter drill. He said he would start letting me teach, but I didn't think it'd be so soon! I thought I did pretty well, considering I was caught by surprise. We did a few drills (I was paired with Blakely), then we freesparred. I don't know why, but think I actually did pretty well with sparring tonight. Sometimes I'm on, and sometimes I'm off. Tonight was great; my back kicks were straight, I got a crescent kick in, and I used my double round kick a lot. We did some ring sparring last (I didn't get to spar, but I was one of the coaches). All in all, it was a great class!
I'm helping out with a demo this Sunday at a student's youth group, so that should be fun. I've also got a demo with Brian's church in about two weeks, so I should have some interesting things to post about soon!

In Which I Complain like a Little Kid

Why do I have to be so short?! I get so frustrated sometimes in class, when I'm not allowed to pair with someone of my rank just because I'm smaller. Tonight especially; Brian, Adam, and Jarrell were the adults in class, and when we paired up for sparring drills I got put with a 7 year old. Goody goody. I can understand that Mr. Coleman didn't have a choice with that, because no one else his size had any sparring gear, but when we switched to self-defense (where sparring gear is not needed) Mr. Coleman kept me with him. Even though there were several kids his size, I had to stay with him. And guess what I got to do while Brian, Adam, and Jarrell worked on advanced self-defense. I got to block, and punch. Block, and punch. Over and over and over and over. I didn't even get sweaty. Arrrghhh, I just can't describe what I'm feeling right now. I want to talk to Mr. Coleman about it, but at the same time I'm afraid that he won't hear me out. Maybe I should give him the url to my blog so I can tell him indirectly...

Wow.... Just....Wow....

Wow... I am in awe.... This morning started out well with an all-belts class. There were only three of us, so Mr. Coleman had us work mostly on forms. I got to review my old forms and tweak a few minor things, which was good. Then we did something we usually don't do; we talked. Mr. Coleman asked us what our goals were in Tae Kwon Do, and life in general. I told him that I don't see myself doing martial arts as a profession, but its become such a way of life for me, I don't think I'll ever quit. I also shared that one of my goals in life was to drive through a toll booth and pay for myself and the next five cars that come through. It seems pretty random, but I've always wanted to do that, just to make a few strangers smile.
After class I got a quick lunch, ran a couple of errands, then was back at tkd for the four hour self-defense seminar. We spent the first 20 minutes or so, just talking about what self-defense was, and going over the three A's (Awareness, Assessment, & Action). Next we paired up (I was with Paulette, which I was glad about. She's very serious about martial arts, but knows how to have fun at the same time).
We started with wrist locks, which I've always found rather complicated (If I ever get into a situation, I think I would just panic and twist the arm in a random direction and just pray that it hurts them!) At one point, Paulette had me in a lock, but I didn't feel any pain; so Mr. Coleman came over, took my wrist, and I let out a yelp because the pain surprised me so much!
We moved on to arm bars and sweeps, which I'm more comfortable with. Its easier for me to have control over the whole body, not just the wrist. One of the distractions that Master Lucas showed us was a strike to the chest area, before locking the body up. Needless to say, that wasn't very fun for us women, and I think we'll all be a little sore tomorrow!
Next came my favorite part; working with weapons. We started with escaping from someone who has a knife to your throat from behind. I think I got "stabbed" in the back and "slit" my wrists a couple of times in the process of learning. Then we worked on disarming someone who is attacking you with a knife from the front. Master Lucas came over and corrected me when I let go of my attacker's wrist for a split second in order to change my hold. Its very important to always be in control of the weapon; you can strike and hit all you want with one hand, but always keep your attacker's wrist locked up with the other hand.
We practiced with guns next (no, not real ones!) and I definitley got "shot" a few times! We started with a gun to the center of your forehead. You don't make any sudden movements, or you're dead. You slowly raise your hands up and play the coward: "Hey man, what do you want? Do you want my money? Can I get my wallet out?" Then you turn to the side so the bullet goes right past your forehead if they pull the trigger, and grab the gun by the top, so they can't fire again; bring it up, and twist it upside down so the barrel is facing them, then bring your arms down and break it out of their hand. Another one we practiced was if someone has a gun in your back. Again, play the coward, but you have to look to see if its just your friend messing around, or if its for real. Then you spin to the outside of them and lock their arm. Strike them, kick them, then take the gun and clear the area.
We ended with a pizza party and question & answer session. It was amazing; I could do an 8 hour session of this stuff and not get bored! It was most definitley worth the $25, and I can't wait until the next one!

Cool Blog

Hey everyone, check out this very neat tkd blog, by TaeKwonDoMom: http://taekwondomom.blogspot.com/
I really enjoy reading her entries as they are so thoughtful and detailed. She also posts some really cool pics and videos.
I've been forbidden by my mom to go to tkd tonight because I woke up at 2:30 in the morning with a migraine, and ended up getting a grand total of 4 hours of sleep. I'm feeling a little better because I conked out on a couch during my lunch period today, but I'm still really tired. But no worries; by tomorrow night I'll have 5 hours of tkd to write about, so you'll just have to wait till then!

Alive and Kicking

Hey all, I've been sick for most of this week with a really random stomach bug. I didn't throw up at all, but I had a fever and felt nausous all the time... Weird... Anyway, I felt better today so I went for the self-defense/sparring class tonight. Brian taught class tonight because Mr. Coleman was sick. (I've heard TaeKwonDoMom talk about Brian A. from her school, and he always reminded me of the Brian from my school). He's not a very big man, but he's got a powerful presence and is great with kids. Rodney was there as well; I mentioned in an earlier post that he had hurt his leg while sparring. Well, apparently he hurt it pretty bad, cause he had a cast going all the way up his thigh. I feel bad for him 'cause I know he's going to miss training a lot; I hope he's back on his feet soon. Before class, Brian showed me a couple of self-defense moves that he likes, and asked me if I would help out with a demo that he was doing for the girls in his church youth group. Of course I said yes (I love demos!) so that should give me something interesting to write about later on. For self-defense I was hoping to get paired with Max, 'cause he always improvises his moves and makes it more of a challenge, but Brian put me with one of the new white belts named Matthew. I was kind of disappointed at first, but I ended up having a good time. He's about 17 years old, so he didn't have the ADD little kid personality, and he was very proficient in his moves for a beginner; I was impressed. We did pretty basic moves for self-defense, but it was still good to review the old stuff. Next was sparring, and I was paired with a purple belt, I'm not sure of his name; he's very quiet and never talks to anyone. So we started doing some drills and it was just weird. He was so constant in his movements and he didn't react to anything at all. He even had this little smirk on his face, like he knew that he was unnerving me. That frustrated me for some reason, and I started kicking harder and faster. I'm usually not very agressive at all, but I guess after three days of laying on a couch and doing nothing, I had gotten a little restless. I don't know why I got so frustrated with him, but it just kind of happened. We didn't get to free spar today, but it was still a really good workout. I can't wait for Saturday; Four hours of hardcore self-defense with Mr. Coleman and Master Lucas (and then a pizza party, but that's beside the point!)

Ouch....

I think I broke my big toe at tkd last night.... It hurts.... And I had to walk all over campus today and was in extreme agony.... But I'm going to tkd tonight anyway.... 'Cause I'm stubborn like that. :) In other news that is completely unrelated to tkd, I have a date to TWIRP this year! (Twirp is like Sadie Hawkins - I think it stands for The Woman Is Responisble for Paying, or something). Anyway, that's really exciting, and if you'll give me a couple of hours I'll come up with a long and complicated explanation as to how that is related to tkd! ;) If anything exciting happens tonight, I'll write.

First Wish Granted!

A couple of entries back I said that I wanted to spar an adult who was larger than me. Well, my wish came true tonight! I went to the half self-defense, half sparring class, and stayed for sparring, which is unusual for me. Max (an adult) was there, so I asked Mr. Coleman if I could spar him. He kind of looked at me for a second, then just said "no". I was disappointed. Especially when I ended up in a group of three with Max and Paulette, and Mr. Coleman told us to switch off from me and Paulette, to Paulette and Max. So I spar a couple of rounds with Paulette, and when I'm not sparring I stand to the side and watch. Mr. Coleman comes over and tousles my hair (actually, I was wearing a head-guard, so I guess he tousled my helmet)... I think he was trying to make me feel better because I looked really disappointed. I guess it helped a little.... A few minutes later Paulette asked to get a drink of water, which left me and Max. I was unsure of what to do; I didn't want to disobey my instructor, but I wanted to spar with Max. It was decided for me when Max pulled me around by my hogu (chest protector) and started sparring. It was really fun, and I got a few good kicks in (I actually kicked him really hard in the butt by accident)! Heehee! Mr. Coleman stopped that match early and paired me up with Blakely and Jessica (both are probably 12 or 13). I couldn't tell if he was mad at me or not... Next we all sat on the side and had a couple of single matches with referees and judges, like in a tournament. I sparred with Blakely and won, 3-2. It was a good match and I really enjoy sparring with her. After class, I was trying not to look Mr. Coleman in the eye, because I was afraid that he was mad at me for sparring Max after he told me I couldn't. But he acted normal and said goodbye to me and everything (I was expecting a strict lecture about "obeying your instructor")! So that's my story for today... Yep... Goodnight!

Memories

Over the time that I've been in TKD I've collected a lot of memories. This is one of the funnier ones that randomly came to my mind during Chemistry class:
I was six or seven years old, probably a yellow or blue belt, at an all-belts class. There were about 10 minutes left, so the instructor decided to have a little fun and let us have a go at him, one at a time. When I was that age, I was fearless; I thought that I could take out the biggest guys with all 60 lbs and 3 1/2 feet of me. When it was my turn to spar the instructor, my 6 year old mind thought that I could catch him off-guard by charging full-blast at him with a flying sidekick. Of course, with me being 3 1/2 feet tall, and him being almost 7 feet tall, that didn't quite work out. He ended up catching me in midair and holding me upside down by my ankles!
Heehee! Well, that's my entry for today, and if you don't learn anything else from this blog, remember to never charge your instructor with a flying sidekick; you'll just end up having all your blood rushing to your head! :)

My knuckles hurt...

I went to all-belts tonight, and got a good workout. Blakely, one of the younger black belts (maybe 13), did warmups for the first time, and did pretty well considering it was a large class! Mr. Coleman (Sah Bum Nim) taught tonight, so I knew I was in for a hard workout. I'm always somewhat more focused when Mr. Coleman teaches, rather than an assistant instructor... I guess because he's taught me since I was six, and I have a huge amount of respect for him. Not that I don't have respect for the others, its just that they've trained more with me than over me. As you can tell from the title, my knuckles hurt. This is because I made the choice to do knuckle pushups on cinder blocks. Now I know you're all thinking why anyone in their right mind would ever do that, but its supposed to improve my punch (although I'm considering just doing regular pushups on the blocks 'cause my knuckles are getting seriously messed up!) While we were practicing kicking, I noticed Master Lucas observing the class from the back and I stepped up my game; maybe to impress him? I'm not sure, I just know I stepped it up. I polished up my 360 back kick tonight, and worked on my form (I'm still mixing up my hands on the last two blocks, because I learned it the wrong way and can't seem to break the habit). Then it was sparring time! I don't usually enjoy sparring, but I did tonight for some reason. I practiced some drills with Blakely and then I free sparred with her. She's a good opponent and it was quite fun to try out some new combinations. Then Mr. Coleman asked who wanted to spar Rodney (one of the adults). I wanted a challenge so I raised my hand, but he picked someone else. These past few months I've started wanting to spar someone significantly older and larger than me and not have them go easy on me, just to see what I can do. I know they don't mean anything, but I feel slightly offended when someone goes easy on my just because I'm a girl or because I'm smaller than them; just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't handle myself. Anyway, he picked someone else, and about 10 seconds into the round, Rodney hurt his leg really badly and couldn't walk; he had to have a person at each arm to help him out to his car. Hope its nothing too serious... Well, that's all for today. I'm going to the 10:00 class tomorrow morning so I'll write if anything interesting happens. 'Night!

Back Again

Well, I'm in my OC (open campus) at school, so I thought I'd write about TKD class last night. It was half self-defense, half sparring (I could only stay for the first half... Stupid homework....) For self-defense, my instructor sometimes combines teaching with his friend, Master Lucas (or Menkio Sensai, as we're supposed to call him). Let me start by saying that he is so COOL! He is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, and not just about tkd. He knows a lot about life in general, and incorporates it into his teaching. I've been in just three of his classes so far, but I've learned so much in that time, its amazing! He teaches escapes from basic holds, then shows the adults and advanced belts how to take it to the floor. We get to try it on eachother, but you really have to work at it because your attacker is flailing and struggling the whole time you're trying to put them in the hold. After struggling with my opponent for several minutes I said, "forget about the hold," and slammed my hand beside his head in a "mock punch" and got a pressure point on his neck until he tapped out. That's what he encourages us to do, because there are so many "what-ifs" involved. If that had been a real fight and I had just kept on trying to get the hold on him, he probably would have won in the end because he had more mass and weight power against me. But punching works just as well! I can't wait till the 24th! He and Mr. Coleman are doing a four hour self-defense seminar! Its gonna rock!! Ah, time for lunch. I might go to tkd tonight; if so, I'll write about it.

Hey All!

Welcome to my TKD blog! My name's Pam and I'm 16 years old. I've been training in TKD for about 10 years (since I was 6), and I passed my 3rd dan test this past December. I should be up for a promotion stripe sometime this fall, so yay! Anyway, my long term goal at the moment is to test for my 4th dan before I go to college, in about 3 years. So I thought that I'd make this blog to keep up with my goals and record any accomplishments I happen to make (its usually by mistake!) ;) Its also for accountability; if I set a goal, I want my readers to make sure that I keep up with it, so please help me with that! :D I'm in school now and classes are about to change, but I'll post more during my open campus today. Until then, kick, punch, and rock out!